Apple, IBM unite on softwareApple and IBM, seeking to...

BUSINESS DIGEST

Apple and IBM, seeking to bridge the gap between their rival computing standards, launched a software program yesterday that allows Macintosh personal computers to work on IBM-based networks.

Apple Computer Inc.'s SNA.ps 5250 emulation software package enables its Macintosh desktop and notebook PCs to behave like IBM terminals and access about 20,000 applications available on IBM's AS/400 systems. The software package will go on sale in June at a suggested retail price of $345 for a single stand-alone version.

Company acquires KA Teletech

PictureTel Corp., a Massachusetts visual telecommunications company, said yesterday that it acquired KA Teletech Corp., a small Glen Burnie software company, and planned to move its five employees to the Danvers, Mass., headquarters.

Schools company posts profit

The Minneapolis company that is managing nine Baltimore schools posted a big second-quarter gain in revenues yesterday and reported the 7-year-old company's first profits.

Education Alternatives Inc. reported that for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, revenues leaped to $7.9 million, from $780,767 for the same period in 1991. Profits were $235,293, compared to a $377,916 loss in 1991. However, revenues included all the money the company received from Baltimore, though most of the money is held in escrow and paid to teachers.

Civiletti joins Bethlehem board

Benjamin R. Civiletti, the managing partner of the Baltimore law firm of Venable, Baetjer and Howard, has been appointed to the Bethlehem Steel Corp. board of directors, effective March 1.

The Bethlehem, Pa.-based steel company also announced two other board appointments: Worley H. Clark Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Nalco Chemical Co. of Naperville, Ill.; and Harry P. Kamen, who has been tapped as chairman and chief executive officer of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. as of April 1. The appointments increase the company's board from 12 to 15 members.

British Airways profits plummet

British Airways Plc reported an 80 percent drop in fiscal third-quarter profits yesterday and warned of more trouble ahead due to a fare war among international carriers. British Airways said pretax profits for the three months that ended Dec. 31 plunged to $28.3 million, from $141.3 million a year earlier.